New homes in Perth more popular
According to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Western Australia was consistently the fastest growing state throughout 2014. With such a rampantly rising population, what are the chances that builders in Western Australia could keep up?
CoreLogic RP Data has released analysis of ABS figures, comparing population growth rates and the number of dwelling approvals, and things are looking good for Perth and the rest of WA.
While Western Australia has been growing at a phenomenal pace compared to the rest of the country, the rate of population increase has been decelerating. In the year to the March quarter of 2014, the rise in population was 2.5 per cent. In the June quarter it was 2.2 per cent and September recorded a rate of 2.1 per cent. None of the other states or territories broke 2 per cent during this time.
Using CoreLogic RP Data’s charts it’s easy to see that since the early 2000’s population growth has been outstripping increases in housing supply by an ever-increasing margin. However, in the last couple of years the rise in Perth’s population has slowed, in conjunction with an increase in housing approvals. In 2014, these two figures were closer to parity than they have been since 2006.
While land prices in Perth have been increasing, the number of lots released in the last five years has doubled according to data from the Urban Development Institute of Australia. It seems that demand and supply are finally getting close to meeting up. A large driver of housing unaffordability has been excess demand, but these latest figures could indicate the conditions that have made land more expensive may be subsiding.
The construction of a luxury home in Perth could become a more readily achievable goal if dwelling approvals and land supply continue to edge closer to the numbers demanded by our expanding population.
